Enhancing Customer Happiness Through Corporate Social Responsibility: Unveiling the Impact of CSR on Customer Well-Being

Abstract

Previous literature supports the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by demonstrating its effects on various aspects of firm performance. However, the extent to which CSR contributes to social well-being, its original objective, has rarely been examined. The current research investigates the impact of customers’ perceived CSR of service firms on customer happiness. Two studies confirm our proposition that perceived CSR increases customer happiness by enhancing perceptions of warmth and competence associated with the service company. Furthermore, we examine how the type of service moderates this effect. Specifically, we find that the indirect effects of CSR on customer happiness through perceptions of warmth and competence are stronger for credence services than for experience services. This research makes theoretical contributions to the literature on CSR, happiness, and service, and offers practical implications for marketing tactics, including fostering long-term customer relationships and monitoring the effectiveness of CSR activities and corporate budget allocations.

Keywords

• corporate social responsibility
• happiness
• warmth
• competence
• service type
• credence
• experience